Police and fire briefs

Police and fire briefs

Police searching for suspects in slaying

BRIDGE CITY —Deputies searched Saturday for at least one attacker in the slaying Friday night of a Bridge City woman found dead of multiple gunshot wounds on her kitchen floor in the 300 block of Fifth Street, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office reported.

Deputies found a trail of bullet casings from the street leading to Doretha Richardson’s front door. More cartridge casings were found inside, sheriff’s spokesman Glen T. Boyd said in a news release.

Three other people were inside the house at the time of the killing. They were unharmed, including a 3-year-old girl reportedly under the care of Richardson, 81, Boyd said.

Investigators were not sure if Richardson was the prime target and they do not have a motive or suspect, Boyd said.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Investigations Bureau at (504) 364-5300 or Crime Stoppers.

Woman surrenders in SWAT standoff

NEW ORLEANS — A New Orleans Police Department SWAT team negotiated the surrender Saturday of a 56-year-old woman who barricaded herself inside her house in the 2900 block of Dryades Street, a police spokesman said.

The woman was believed to have been armed with a knife and what was later found to be a toy gun, a Police Department spokesman said.

The woman had three relatives inside the house with her: A 23-year-old daughter, a 6-year-old granddaughter and a 5-year-old grandson.

SWAT negotiators persuaded the woman to release the three about 1 p.m., Officer Hilal B. Williams said in a news release.

The woman surrendered to police without incident about 2 p.m. and was taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation because she is known to be mentally disabled, Williams said.